VNS Tokamak for Medical Isotope Production

Abstract

The Volumetric Neutron Source (VNS) tokamak is a proposed fusion reactor for testing components under fusion neutron irradiation, and has potential use for radioisotope production. The VNS geometry is modeled in the Serpent 2.2.2 and OpenMC 0.15.2 neutronics codes. Coupled neutron-photon simulations compared fluxes, spectra, and selected reaction rates in the blanket and vacuum vessel. Good agreement was found overall, with the largest difference found in (n, 2n) reactions. On an HPC cluster, Serpent 2 was found to have shorter computation time in coupled simulations, while OpenMC was faster in neutron only simulations. Radioisotope production yields were simulated in Serpent 2.2.2 for capsule and Cobalt plate irradiation facilities. Results indicate potential for large volume production of 99Mo, 131I, 225Ac, 177Lu, 192Ir, 64Cu, 67Cu, 161Tb, and 153Sm while 203Pb indicates lower potential. 100Mo and LEU target heating was calculated, suggesting the LEU target mass or the cooling may need adjustment. Optimized 60Co production yielded 1.2 GBq/mg and 100,000 TBq after a 3-year irradiation period. Sensitivity to plant outage for 99Mo, 131I, 177Lu, and 60Co was simulated, suggesting irradiation can be restarted for the same isotope loading and demonstrated long-lived 60Co to be robust to long plant dwell-time.